Short story, there isn’t much of a postpartum fitness journey at this point! There have been many surprising parts of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. A huge shock has been my thoughts and actions when it comes to fitness. I kept active during pregnancy. It wasn’t at 6am HIIT classes or running a 10k while 9 months pregnant, but I did do plenty of walking, approximately one million squats, and lifted (light) weights. I kept moving even if at a slow and easy pace.
I assumed when I hit my 6-week postpartum appointment and was given the “all-clear” to workout I’d be at the gym that same day full of energy and excitement to sweat again. That was not the case. I had been walking a lot but beyond that, I wasn’t ready to hit the gym. My body didn’t feel completely healed and I knew I was dealing with Diastasis Recti and feared working out would make it worse (more on that in a future post).
It took about two more weeks and at 8 weeks postpartum I was feeling ready for some sort of workout. Over the next couple of weeks I did a barre class, a yoga class, walked on the treadmill and did some light lifting. It mirrored what I was doing in my third trimester. I had to modify a ton, which felt very frustrating. I actually attended a HIIT & Flow yoga class last night and left halfway through because 90% of the class were things I couldn’t do. I know some women jump directly back into intense workouts. For me I know that would hinder proper healing from pregnancy and childbirth and likely backfire in the long run.
Even though I’ve been to a handful of workouts, my motivation and consistency has not there. And at 13 weeks, I’m still looking for it.
Shifting Priorities
Once you have a baby your priorities take a 180. Yes I would ideally love to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and yes I’d love to feel the endorphin high of a good workout. But I also want to make sure Millie is getting proper sleep, I want to make sure I’m available to nurse her whenever she needs it and I want to be there when it’s bedtime (and basically all of the time ha). So where does that leave time for working out? I am not making excuses, I fully know that if I was feeling 100% committed to finding the time, I’d find it (like at 7:30pm after Millie’s in bed). But I know up until this point my commitment has been wavering. Do I love the way I look right now? Not particularly, but I also don’t care that much about it. Just mildly…it’s a confusing place mentally.
Flexible Goals
I’m not setting rigid goals for myself (like lose the baby weight by 4 months) because my body went through some crazy changes and I need to give it the time and grace it deserves. But I would like to get myself into a better routine.
Millie turned 3 months yesterday (!!!) which means we’re out of the “4th Trimester” and I’m feeling a little more ready to get back into shape. I didn’t weigh myself regularly before pregnancy because I believe that the numbers on the scale do not tell a complete story. However, with pregnancy weight gain it has been helpful to me to see the numbers. Everyone’s journey is different, but here’s where I’m at and what my goals are for the next month:
Pregnancy Weight Gain: 45 pounds (insert surprised emoji face here!)
Weight Loss at 3 Months Postpartum: -28 pounds
Number of Pre-Pregnancy Pants That Fit: 0 (lol)
Goals for Month 4
My goals are not scale based, I’m simply using that to generally see where I’m at. Here are the goals I’m setting for myself not because I need that number on the scale to change, but because I know this time is important for me and will make me feel strong and healthy.
- Workout 3 times a week
- 10,000 steps a day
- 100 oz of water a day
- Eat mostly Paleo (vague but that’s where I’m at)
It will be a balancing act but I’m going to give it a go. I’ll share at the end of the month how I did.
